Fleisch
His Past For Science Born in 2097 in Chicago, Alexander Hermann lived a relatively average life in a middle-class family despite the current level of unrest that was overcoming the United States at the time. He did well in school and attended MIT graduating top of his class and earning his Bachelor's Degree in Bio-Chemical Engineering in 2118. He decided to continue his college career at MIT and began a graduate program in the same field. During his graduate degree program he met the love his life; Josephine Kara, who was currently going for her bachelor's degree at MIT. In 2122 Alexander graduated and obtained his Master's degree. In the same year Alexander married Josephine, and obtained a job working as a lab technician at HGE's Pensacola facility in Florida. Already pregnant with Alexander's child, Josephine decided that she would stay at home and raise the child while Alexander continued his career as a Bio-chemical Engineer. In his position at HGE Alexander aided in the examination and modification of stem-cell material from the Osykan specimens. The scientists were working on forcing mutations within the stem-cells to see if they could grow enhanced organs to use within human subjects. Unfortunately Alexander would never see the goals of these projects come to fruition. Failed Protocol In 2125 the team that Alexander's newborn daughter was now over 1 year old and the team he was working with had already successfully grown a series of organs and cell types from the Osykan stem-cells to attempt to use within human subjects. One of these cells that they had created was a highly-advanced version of the white blood cell that was far more effective at fighting foreign cells quickly and effectively. The only problem was that the scientists could not get the cells to recognize a host and as such they would attack any and all cells they came into contact with. One day, after ours, while putting away lab materials Alexander was securing a canister of the advanced blood cells Alexander when he failed to observe proper protocol and the canister fell from its containment array. Alexander attempted to catch the canister but he fell under its falling weight and the lid popped off as he hit the floor. The contents of the canister spilled across Alexander's face and the cells quickly began attacking his flesh. Gagging and coughing, Alex slowly managed to get his feet and hit the hazard emergency 911 button. Accidents Happen Alex had managed to make it out to the front of the facility as the hazard workers arrived, but unbeknownst the them Fleisch was already breathing out hazardous immunity cells into the air around that attacked all Organic matter they came into contact with. All of the hazard worker quickly collapsed from being exposed. Bewildered, weak, and slowly being killed by the cells currently wreaking havoc within his body, Alex managed to climb into one of the vehicles the hazard workers arrived in. Due to his current condition, Alex was confused and did not know where to go once he had commandeered the vehicle. In a haze he managed to drive the vehicle to his house, as it was the only place he could think of at the time. He wondered up to the front door of his house moaning for help. He managed to knock on the door and his wife came to find him collapsed on his knees at the doorstep. To his horror, before she could say anything she collapsed in front of him. He kneeled over her trying to wake her up in too much of a delirious haze to realize he was what was killing her. Coughing up a stomach full of blood onto the ground, Alex realized that his wife was carrying his infant daughter in her arms when she answered the door. Alex slowly reached for the baby, but pulled back when he saw her small body start shriveling up and dying ( her young immune system was much more susceptible ). This snapped Alex out of his haze enough for him to realize what was happening. Stricken with horror he ran away from his house into the street. Not watching where he was going he tripped and fell headfirst into an open man hole. During the fall, Alex's head got caught in the bars of the man hole's ladder and twisted his neck snapping it instantly. Alexander's limp body then fell into the stream of water at the bottom of the sewer. Down Under For years Alexander's dead body floated in the bile and waste of the sewer's waters. During this time the advanced Osykan-based cells infecting Alexander's bloodstream started dying off due to their lack of a living host and being outside of their controlled containment environment. But the cells would prove to be more capable than the scientists who created them had anticipated. Still residing within Alexander's body, the cells started to mutate and adapt, transforming Alex into a permanent host for the mutant blood cells. The cells started repairing the damage they had inflicted upon his cells while initially trapped within his body, they also repaired the damage to his spinal column. In 2153 Alex awakened from his death with a shock. In his mind he could only remember seeing his dead daughter and dying wife and running away, after that he had no recollection of the past 31 years ( though at this time he had idea of how long he had been out ). Climbing out of the sewer waters Alexander thought that he had merely been knocked unconscious when he fell down a man-hole. Alexander remembered being infected by the super-cells but he strangely felt fine now. He then noticed that his breath had a yellowish color and spread about the chamber he stood in like a plague. He noticed that a number of rats scurried about the sewer chamber and seemed to fall over dead as his breathe encompassed them. Alex was smart enough to realize that in his current condition he would be dangerous to anyone he came across. Wandering about the sewers Alex soon discovered that the majority of the paths he went down led to crashed sections of sewers where the tunnels had collapsed. Alex found this strange, but with a lot of effort and exploration he finally found an exit from the sewers the path to the exit was blocked and it took Alex a number of hours to clear it. Reaching the outside, Alex could not believe what he saw next. Fatality The world above the sewers was a wasteland of destroyed cityscapes and scorched earth. A year before Alex awoke from his death slumber Xtremevan, the Emperor of the newly created Epsilon Empire had ended his fierce Civil War against the Alliance of Humanity in nuclear fire, nearly wiping out all life on the surface of the earth. Alex had no knowledge of this, but he was able to determine that the world must have ended in some form of nuclear war. For over a week Alex wondered about the wasteland looking for signs of life, surviving on rodents, meager plant life, and contaminated water sources, but because of his mutual relationship with the Osykan blood-cells residing within him, Alex was left unharmed by the radiation covering the Earth. About 9 days since emerging from the sewers Alex wondered upon a small space-ship that had landed in the ruins of Pensacola. The ship was in good condition, so Alex knew that it had to have landed recently. Slowly moving towards the ship Alex quickly hid when he saw a group of men wearing hazard suits emerge from the ruins of a nearby building. The men were carrying old fuel cells from the ruins to their ship. Alex didn't know, but these men were scavengers from the LGA System that had come to Earth to harvest any valuables they could find among the ruins of Earth's cities. Thinking he could get help from them, Alex called over to them. Alex was still wearing his lab coat from the night he had fallen in the sewers ( though it was very ragged and dirty ), and when the group of scavengers saw the HGE logo on Alex's chest they thought that he may be of some worth to Dr. Sandifer, the owner of HGE in the LGA system. Intending to capture him and make a profit, the scavengers drew sidearms and pointed them at Alex. Alex reluctantly raised his hands in a show of surrender as he had no idea what was going on. One of the scavengers approached Alex with the intent to cuff him, but as he got closer he didn't realize that he was being encompassed by the hazardous plague that Alex let forth each time he exhaled. the scavenger's hazard suit protected him from the plague momentarily, but it was virulent enough to quickly penetrate the suit's ventilation systems. Just as the scavenger was within grabbing distance of Alex he collapsed, grasping at his neck. Thinking that Alex had attacked their comrade the other scavengers opened fire on Alex. Unprotected from the spray of bullets, Alex was struck multiple times in the chest and head. Alex slumped to the ground as he began to bleed out. Another scavenger ran over to help their fallen colleague, but the potent affliction was still hanging in the air, and he too collapsed as he gasped for a breathe of fresh air. The other scavengers began to panic and decided to leave behind their associates as they quickly boarded their ship and flew away from Alex and the two dying scavengers. Discovered Alex awoke hours later in the middle of the night, his memory foggy of what had happened before he had been "killed" again. Alex then saw the two bodies laying next to him, and it instantly came back to him: he had killed them, with his breath..somehow... he was still a bit unclear as to how it had happened, but his thoughts were cut off as a hypersonic crack went off in the distance and dropship screamed right above him, heading straight for the ruins of downtown Pensacola. Alex believed it to be more scavengers who reported back what had happened and they were now looking for him. Alex in his current state knew that he could not outrun them, so he sought refuge in an old building nearby. Alex stared out the window, controlling his breathing as to not give away his position. About 30 minutes later, he heard an armored vehicle driving towards his position. It suddenly stopped right in front of the building, and Alex foolishly remembered he left the bodies in the open. A lone, heavily armored figure emerged from the vehicle and approached the bodies and began inspecting them, searching for the cause of death as Alex cautiously peered over. Alex was looking around to see if anyone else was around, but it was just that one man. Alex suddenly felt a surge of hope, that maybe he could capture that man and have him take him back to civilization, as these high tech machines had to be coming from somewhere. Alex boldly emerged from the building and proceeded to sneak up on the figure, but as he stepped on a twig the figure was alerted and spun around. The Deal The armored figure was none other than Roy Colfer, who had come to Earth in search of the Florida Research Facility, home of the Osykans. Roy drew a weapon and shouted," HALT! Stop right there or I WILL not hesitate to shoot you!" Alex stopped dead in his tracks and replied, "You're here for me huh? You're buddies tell ya the story huh!?" Roy was confused, but after looking at the bodies he asked, "So you did this?" and Alex said, "It wasn't my fault! They just approached me and suddenly died! Everyone near me DIES!" At that point Alex began having an emotional breakdown in tears, thinking about his family and how he killed them. Roy, still wary of Alex's strange ability, used his helmet's visor to scan his cells from a distance, and he found something astonishing: they were the same cells used by the Osykans. Roy knew he was getting closer to his answers now, and he then switched his helmet vision to thermal and noticed a huge aura of gas around the Osykan which his scans exclaimed as extremely harmful. Roy was able to quickly put together the pieces and concluded that Alex was some sort of failed experiment that escaped from the Florida Research Center. Roy double checked his suit's integrity, and he slowly began to approach Alex as he withdrew his weapon. As Roy got closer, he noticed the lab coat that Alex wore, and that it said 'HGE Staff: Alex Hermann' and he said, "Look..Alex..I know you're going through a lot of shit right now, but trust me, I mean you no harm. I can help you if you help me." At that, Alex quickly stopped sobbing and said, "W-what do you want?" and Roy replied, "GPS coordinates for the Florida Research Facility. You worked there correct?" Alex replied, "Y-yeah. So what can you do for me? I've got nothing left...nothing." "I'll take you away from all of this, help you start anew. There's nothing here man." Alex stood up and decided to take Roy's offer, and Roy said, "There's another suit like mine in the car. Go grab it and put it on. If we both wear these suits then you shouldn't accidentally kill me, heh!" at that Alex laughed and donned another heavily armored suit and hopped in the car with Roy, and the two drove off to the HGE facility. Friends The two talked on the whole drive to the Research Center; they made their introductions and Roy filled Alex in on what happened while he was out. By the end of the hour drive the two were practically friends and they felt very comfortable with each other, and then Alex asked why Roy had come back to Earth anyway. "I'm here to stop the man who did this." Roy stated, and Alex just responded with, "Did what?" Roy instantly turned very serious, his grim face hidden under the suit's armor as he said, "The man who ended this world. The goddamn science fair project you guys were playing around with at this place." Alex knew there was something much more than that, as he could sense something personal in Roy's tone, but he decided to leave it at that. The two pulled up in front of the main entrance and began to stroll right through the shattered gate. Alex said, "You want to go to the Osykan project right?" Roy nodded, and Alex hit an access code into the elevator and the two armored figures stepped on, the elevator barely supporting their weight. There were a few more consoles at the bottom that Alex simply memorized the codes for, and the door leading to the entire Osykan project opened up. on a tour of the Osykan Project at the Florida Reseacrh Center]] Her Roy opened his eyes to the massive room that opened before him, and like a child being introduced to his first Christmas, he began to dig into all of the knowledge around him. Roy learned more about XtremEvan in this one room than he did serving on the twisted man's team months ago, but all of the Osykans pointed to one thing that Roy did not know a thing about: Subject Zero. Alex was simply standing by the elevator, glancing around the room when asked, "So..who's this..Subject Zero?" Alex replied, "She's the one that started it all. If it wasn't for her, this whole thing would have never happened." "Her?", Roy replied, astounded. "Yea. She's....she's their mother....wanna see her?" All this information had given Roy a shock, the fact that XtremEvan actually had a mother, and the fact that she was still alive. Roy just said, "Well let's go say hello to Mrs. Osyka." Alex led him to a sealed room and after punching in yet another code the door opened and Subject Zero awaited Roy's eyes. She was sealed in a tank full of fluid, slowly floating in peace and solitude; her dark hair twirling around around like ocean waves and her closed eyes and crossed arms made Roy simply mutter, "Beautiful.." Roy then shouted, "Alrighty Alex, wake her up!" Awakening Alex was very unsure of this, as they had never woken up Subject Zero, but he didn't want to argue with Roy so he hit a few buttons and the tank drained and opened up. A few electrical impulses were sent through the wires to her cerebrum to reactivate her brain, and she slowly came to. Roy walked over and picked her up before she could open her eyes and he then laid her down on a nearby table, where she then opened her eyes for the first time for Alex himself to view. Alex and Roy were both taken back as to how beautiful she was, and Roy asked Alex to step back a bit so he could open his facemask and introduce himself. Subject Zero at first panicked a bit when she saw Roy's face, but Roy quickly introduced himself and Alex, and Subject Zero learned his language amazingly fast and replied in simple english, "I have a name you know, it's Kinetic Flare" Roy was surprised that she learned his language almost immediately, but he hid his surprise and managed to persuade her that he needed her help. Alex joined in and the two of them managed to get Kinetic to trust them. They soon drove back to the dropship and blasted off from the dead planet. Suit Up Inside of Roy's dropship Alex was contained within a sealed vat that Roy had brought in case he had to bring back any hazardous materials. Once they had returned to Roy's primary base; Force Carrier Constellation. Roy had Alex moved to a different containment vat. Roy then ran bio-scans of Alex's body and discovered why Alex came up on Roy's scanner as an Osykan Bio-signature. Through further testing with the cells contained inside of Alex, Roy discovered that it had hazardous effects on every type of cell it came into contact with besides itself. Over the next couple weeks Roy continued extensive testing into Alex's condition. While Roy was not running tests, Alex was allowed access to Roy's databanks and was catching up on what had happened over the past 30 years. While Alex was just happy to have the chaos of the recent weeks over, Roy saw possibilities. Through testing Roy learned quite a bit about what was happening within Alex's body and with the information they had gained, Roy was able to design a special type of containment suit and ventilator specifically designed to contain the cells within Alex's body. But, rather than tell Alex about the suit, Roy decided to make a bargain with Alex in return for his freedom. Roy told Alex that he could figure out a way to let Alex safely out of his containment vat, but he first had to agree to join Roy in his fight against XtremEvan. Alex argued with Roy saying that he just wanted to get some sense of normalcy back in his life, but Roy replied saying; " You've seen my Command ship, something very few select people outside of my organization even know about. I can't trust you to leave here with that kind of information. Especially when your.... condition, draws so much attention to yourself." When Alex thought about it, he remembered his dying wife and child, and an anger welled up inside of him. He knew it was irrational, but he could not help but hold HGE and the Osykans accountable for what happened to him and his family. Alex agreed to Roy's deal. When the suit was done, Alex was able to safely step outside of his vat and walk around among people safely. Over time Alex continued to learn more about what he was capable of and decided to make a version of the suit that could be weaponized. He made his ventilation mask adjustable to he could let forth calculated bursts of the plague from his lungs, and made gloves with a special membrane allowing him to use his other abilities. Current Times Fleisch now serves as one of Roy's top lieutenants, and gets to be involved in top level discussions ( along with Mythril and Falchion, Kinetic Flare, and Corsair ). He serves as part of FOI's special combat division, and he has become quite well known to his enemies for the gruesome nature of his abilities, which earned him his callsign; Fleisch. Fleisch has played an effective role within the FOI and even spearheaded the operation that led to rescuing Mythril and Falchion from their Epsilon captors. Personality Despite the fear he instills in his enemies, Fleisch is actully the most mild-mannered of the top-ranking members of the FOI. If it wasn't for the armor and ventilator he had to wear at nearly all times ( except when he sleeps in his sealed containment room at night ), he wouldn't be a very memorable person if someone was to just meet him. In combat he fears little, as he knows that death is hardly a problem for him, and he has little problems with killing due to his diminished moral agenda ever since the loss of his wife and daughter. He doesn't really have any close friends within the FOI, though he does feel comfortable enough to confide in Roy about some things. Powers & Abilities Osykan Super-Cells When the vat of Osykan super-cells spilled upon Fleisch's face they initially attacked his body, only using it as a temporary host. But, when Fleisch fell into the sewer and was killed by breaking his neck, the cells mutated and adapted to cohabitate with Fleisch. As time has gone on, the level of the Super-cell's bond with Fleisch's body has continued to increase, and Fleisch has even gained some degree of mental control over them. Super-Cell Protection The Osykan super-cells within Fleisch effectively replaced all of his natural blood cells and began to take on his specific genetic signature, only identifying with him. Now they serve Fleisch's body, protecting him from disease and chemicals that would otherwise cause him harm. They also provide him with an unnatural healing factor allowing him to quickly heal from wounds and even survive death. Wounds that would take a normal human a day or week to heal will heal for Fleisch in a matter of minutes, and more sever injuries such as broken bones will heal for Fleisch over the course of a day. The cells also allow him to come back from death. Mortal wounds such as brain injuries and damage to the heart and lungs to not spell the end for Fleisch, as each of the Super-cells within his blood remembers the exact cellular make-up of his body as it was before he died. This means that as long as the Super-cells survive, they will eventually manage to repair Fleisch's body no matter how bad his injuries are. The only way to permanently kill Fleisch would be through utter annihilation of his body or by somehow destroying all of the super-cells inside of him. The Plague The first change the super-cells made to Fleisch's body was the mutation of a special airborn cell that Fleisch releases into the air everytime he exhales. The super-cells created this mutation to prevent outside biological influences from interfering with their activity inside of Fleisch's body. As such, the airborn cell ( nicknamed "The Plague" ) attacks all biological cells it comes into contact with. It easily kills any microorganisms it comes into contact with and when breathed in by an animal it causes great pain and harm. Though it can be deadly, it doesn't kill a human that breathes it in immediately as the cells quickly die after they attack another cell ( similar to the way a bee dies after it stings someone ). If a human adult isn't continuously exposed to the Plague after they initially breathe it in they can easily survive it as it takes about 15 minutes of continuous exposure to kill the average adult human male ( though they will be incapacitated for a good deal of time ). This is only how the plague effects normal humans though, and it has different effects on Superhumans, Osykans, and Rohaz. If a superhuman is exposed to the plague it will painfully stun them, but not incapacitate them. If the given superhuman has an abnormally high pain tolerance they could theoretically fight through the plague's influence, but it wouldn't do much good as the plague effectively neutralizes the use of their powers. The deadly effects of the plague are drastically reduced in superhumans and it would take upwards an hour of exposure before a superhuman is at risk of being killed. When a Rohaz ( including the Amalgam Subjects ) is exposed to the plague the effect is even weaker than it is for a superhuman. The plague will drastically weaken a Rohaz's powers and cause them pain, but not nearly enough to take them out of the fight. The Rohaz are also more than adapted enough to not be at risk of death from exposure to the Plague. The effect upon an Osykan is slightly different than how it effects others. Because the Plague is born from cells that are Osykan in nature they do not directly harm the Osykan or cause them any pain, but there is a strange side-effect. Similar to superhumans, the plague neutralizes an exposed Osykan's powers. So while the Osykan is left unharmed by the plague, they are basically left effectively human. Flesh Consumption Fleisch's final ability was only gained after he had gained a a degree of mental control over the the super-cells in his blood. Through focus, Fleisch can reroute cells from his blood to come up through the pores in his skin. If the cells leave the surface of his body they will die after a period of time, but by doing this Fleisch gains the most deadly ability in his arsenal. By making the cells come up through the pores in his hands ( or any other part of his body ) and then by making physical contact with a person or animal the cells will quickly attack the foreign biological material, breaking it down and consuming it. The effect of this is quite guresome as it appears that Fleisch is basically causing his victim's flesh to melt with his hands. This works on anything, the effect would be slightly slower on Osykans, but nothing is immune to it. Because of Fleisch's plague ability, he can easily get in range of a given target if he wishes to use the ability on them. Also, by forcing the cells back into his bloodstream Fleisch can quickly metabolize the consumed flesh for sustenance.